Titan Shares Fall Over 6% On Muted Gold Jewellery Sales

Shares of Titan Company Ltd decline by as much as 6.1% to a low of Rs 1,177.05 apiece on Wednesday. It is the stock's biggest fall since 9 July.

The slump comes in after the company said that it has witnessed a significant drop in its jewellery sales segment in the second quarter of the financial year 2019-20 due to an increase in gold prices.

In a statement to the exchanges providing a quarterly update on Monday evening, Titan said, "The division (jewellery) witnessed a sharp fall in sales after a sudden surge in gold prices dented the consumer demand from mid-June."

Stock markets were closed in India on Tuesday, on account of Dussehra.

"While retail sales declined in July, between August & September the retail growth was 15% YoY over the same period in the previous financial year possible due to an enhanced level of promotions & schemes. Retail sales (secondary sales) therefore grew by 7% in QZ'ZO but revenues as per financials declined 2% YoY in 02'20 substantially due to adverse impact ofthe hedges matured during the quarter," it added.

Titan owns the Tanishq brand that is in the business of selling jewellery made of precious metals.

The company in its statement also said that it has purchased 9,45,000 equity shares from one of the shareholders of CaratLane, thus increasing its stake in the subsidiary by 2.8%, from 69.5% to 72.3%.

Indian stock market benchmarks were seen fluctuating between gains and losses on Wednesday. BSE's Sensex and the NSE's Nifty 50 were trading at 37,518 and 11,117 respectively at 10 am, moving only marginally from its previous close.